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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27283462">Somebody That I Used to Know</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrSandman/pseuds/MrSandman'>MrSandman</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Doctor Who, Doctor Who &amp; Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(as is this entire exchange haha), (canonical and not one of the main characters), (sort of but it's a long way post lmao), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Chance Meetings, Fic Exchange, Gen, Gift Fic, Light Angst, Memory Loss, Mentioned Geoff Noble, Mentioned Wilfred Mott, Past Character Death, Post-Episode: s04e13 Journey's End, Thirteen Is Unable To Lie Convincingly, graveyard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:01:09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,541</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27283462</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrSandman/pseuds/MrSandman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A visit to the family plot yields a chance meeting with a stranger who seems oddly familiar, a splitting headache, and one very confused Donna Noble.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>(technically mentioned so i'll tag it), Donna Noble/Shaun Temple, Thirteenth Doctor &amp; Donna Noble</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Missed Connections Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Somebody That I Used to Know</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirvanessa27/gifts">Kirvanessa27</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for the Doctor Who Missed Connections Exchange, for the prompt "Thirteen &amp; Donna - visiting at graveyard". I'm not sure if this was what you were going for with the prompt, but I hope it wasn't too far off the mark, and I hope that you like it either way! (Sorry for the angst and the sad content. Also, yes, the title was inspired by the Gotye song of the same name - no regrets...)</p><p>This was very kindly beta-ed by Renoteen and sariane - thank you to both of you, you stars!</p><p>Do people add disclaimers any more? *coughs while sweeping the virtual dust off my dashboard to post this* It's been a while... Suffice to say, I sadly don't own any of the characters and this was all for (perhaps slightly schadenfreudenistic, sorry) fun!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I’m so sorry for your loss.”</p><p>Donna looked up from where she was crouched down, scrutinising the cold and surprisingly well-polished headstone - her mum must have seen to that, of course, always one for keeping up appearances. Upon doing so, she met the eyes of a short blonde woman in a brightly striped t-shirt and a long, pale blue coat. </p><p>“Sorry?” Donna asked, bemused. She was absolutely certain that she’d never seen this woman in her life. </p><p>“I didn’t know,” the woman continued, which was a bit of a non sequitur- hang on, where had she picked that up? She was sure the phrase hadn’t been in her conscious vocabulary until a second ago. It must have been something Gramps had said, she concluded.</p><p>“You knew him?” Donna asked, equal parts confused and wary. </p><p>“I did,” the woman confirmed. “I’ve been away for a while, and I just lost track of everyone, and... now it’s too late.” She looked down forlornly at the grass, and Donna stood up, feeling compelled to offer this stranger some comfort. </p><p>“Yeah, it was a good few years ago now,” Donna replied. “He’d been ill for a while, Mum said it was a miracle he held on for as long as he did.” The woman didn’t seem comforted by this, and Donna regretted saying anything. Her and her big mouth, eh. Mum was always getting at her about that too, even if she sometimes apologised afterwards. </p><p>“Oh.” The woman looked up then, smiling ruefully. “He was a great man, Wilf. A good mate of mine.” Donna opened her mouth to interrupt, but the woman continued without noticing. “Always lent me a hand when I needed it. Even when I didn’t. Well actually, when I <i>thought</i> I didn’t, but really, I did.”</p><p>Donna laughed lightly, startling her companion. “Oh! You thought I meant my grandad! No! He’s fine.” The woman’s eyes widened, but she looked visibly relieved. “No, this is my old Dad, here. Yeah. But Gramps is absolutely fine, sharp as a pin and living a life of luxury in the best nursing home this side of the Thames, he’ll have you know! D’you know, he <i>still</i> manages to sneak out with that telescope of his, he does! Looking for <i>aliens</i>, he says. I’ve said to him more than once, there’s no such thing, but there’s no telling him that there aren’t little green men on Mars, or space-pigs flying about, you name it.” The woman’s eyes grew impossibly larger, and Donna laughed again, the woman joining her a second later with a look of pure delight on her face. </p><p>“That sounds like Wilf,” she said, grinning. </p><p>“How do you know Gramps, anyway?” Donna enquired, curious. The woman looked like she was probably a little younger than Donna, and she hadn’t seen her around before, though that wasn’t saying much in Chiswick.</p><p>The woman looked nervous suddenly. “I, er, I used to buy the paper from him. We sort of became mates, after a while. Helped me out of the odd pickle too, here and there. Great person to have around in a pickle. Well, I <i>say</i> great... Great companion to have, anyway.” Donna nodded. She wasn’t sure why, but for some reason she wasn’t entirely convinced by the woman’s explanation. A gut feeling, maybe, or the long pause before she’d spoken. She brushed it aside, deciding that it wasn’t important, though the thought still buzzed away at the back of her mind. </p><p>“I should look in on him sometime,” the woman added thoughtfully, and Donna could practically see the wheels turning behind the woman’s friendly brown eyes.</p><p>“He’d love that,” Donna said, still convinced that she was missing something, but encouraged by the woman’s hesitantly friendly manner.</p><p>“And how’s everyone? Wilf mentioned you all once or twice,” the woman added evasively when Donna opened her mouth to ask how she knew to ask after them. </p><p>“Yeah, we’re all okay,” Donna replied. “Mum’s still, well, <i>Mum</i>, isn’t she. And Shaun and I have a lovely big house down near the Town Hall, and a cat, now! We decided to call it John, not sure why really. I think I just fancied the name, and Shaun would’ve gone along with anything I chose, bless him. It’s... comfortable, is what it is. It’s nice.” </p><p>The woman just looked at her for a few seconds. There was something very shrewd about her gaze, despite her energetic and playful manner. Donna could feel a creeping sense of familiarity, though she had no idea why. </p><p>“How are <i>you</i>, though?” Donna was startled out of her reverie when the woman spoke up again, realising that she had been staring at this complete stranger and grinning sheepishly. </p><p>“Me? Fine,” Donna replied hurriedly, “totally fine, yeah. Great! Couldn’t be better.” Rather than stemming her curiosity, if anything the other woman’s gaze became even more sharp and analytical. “Well, okay, I mean, as fine as could be expected, y’know. I mean, how fine are any of us, really? But no, I’m alright really. I just...” </p><p>Donna trailed off, not sure where exactly her sentence had been going. </p><p>“You just...” the woman prompted; one corner of her mouth lifted into a reassuring smile. </p><p>Donna sighed. “I just... do you ever get into a mood, and don’t get me wrong, I get into those a <i>lot</i>, or at least that’s what my mum says, but do you ever just... feel like something’s <i>missing</i>, even though you know that everything’s fine? I mean, my life here… it is what it is, I mean, that lottery win did us all a huge favour... and I love Shaun, he’s such a sweetheart... but do you ever just feel like you were destined for more, somehow?”</p><p>The woman inhaled sharply, and Donna couldn’t quite work out what that meant. Her head was spinning a little too much to work out what <i>anything</i> meant just then, actually, and when had that started? She felt strange. She didn’t know why she was saying all these things to a complete stranger, feeling comfortable enough to tell her things she’d never normally say to anyone. </p><p>“And I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this, you’re just some woman I’ve run into in a graveyard,” Donna continued, touching her temple subconsciously. She was almost surprised when she brought her hand back down to her side. The other woman looked worried, taking a half-step towards her before stopping abruptly. </p><p>Donna continued before she could stop herself; her tendency to chatter in the presence of strangers, and the strange dizziness that she’d been feeling, overruled any reservations she might otherwise have had. “What am I saying, that’s just life, isn’t it? I’ll always just be a temp from Chiswick, having a natter with Linda and the girls on Saturdays, feet up in front of the telly every night, holidays to Barcelona every now and then. That’s my lot, isn’t it? I’m not <i>really</i> meant for anything more. I’m no one <i>important</i>.”</p><p>The woman had begun to turn away, but at this she spun round, looked Donna in the eyes, and said firmly, “<i>no</i>. Never, ever think that. Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone is so, <i>so</i> important. Donna Noble, you might just be the most important woman in the universe.”</p><p>The woman looked incredibly sad again, all of a sudden, and Donna was strangely touched by the peculiar words of this stranger who once knew her grandad, and who clearly knew more than she was letting on. But before she could thank her, or ask her what she had meant, the woman briefly held up a hand as if to wave, before ducking her head and spinning around, taking a purposeful step away from Donna and towards the cemetery gate. </p><p>It was only as she was walking away that Donna realised that she’d never given the woman her name. </p><p>“Hang on, have we met before?” Donna yelled after her, never one for leaving things unsaid. “Only, you said you knew Gramps, and you knew it was me, and I’m always forgetting people, Mum’s always telling me I’ve got a colander for a brain, she is, and...” She trailed off. </p><p>The woman was looking over her shoulder at Donna now, one corner of her mouth angled up. She looked sad for a moment. “We have met. A long time ago. But you wouldn’t recognise me. Really.” Then she smiled brightly again, though somehow it didn’t quite seem to reach her eyes, and with that, she was gone with a swish of her coat. </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>***</p>
</div><p>Later that night, Wilf called her in a rush of exhilaration - Donna could tell even without seeing him that he was practically vibrating with excitement - and said that he’d finally spotted an alien! Right there, in Chiswick! Donna shook her head fondly, sure that it must have been an escapee helium balloon, or a helicopter, or something equally terrestrial. She was glad that he sounded so happy, though, and made affirmative noises down the phone as he chatted.</p><p>(And if Wilf had seen a small blue box sail past his telescope lens, a tiny figure in the doorway waving her hand at him, well, that was his and the Doctor’s secret, eh?)</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading! Feel free to drop by and say hi on twitter (@hetheyharkness) or tumblr (also hetheyharkness), should you so desire it! Comments, kudos etc. are very much appreciated! Have a great day :D</p></blockquote></div></div>
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